Kays Translations

Just another Isekai Lover~

Chapter 108: Misery

The next day.

Velvet and Sheila were in high spirits, and even I found myself more focused than usual on our farm work.

But in contrast to the three of us, there was clearly one person whose energy was noticeably low.

He wasn’t putting effort into the work, and despite being a large man, he looked unusually small and dejected.

“Donny-san, are you alright? You look so down it’s like your body’s shrunk.”

“No, it’s not that… I think.”

“Did you perhaps talk to Joel-kun about returning to the Royal Knight Order?”

“…Yeah. I talked to him again yesterday, but he turned me down instantly.”

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As I expected, that seemed to be the reason for his gloom.

Actually, lately, every time he visits, Donny tries to talk Joel into coming back, only to get rejected and end up depressed.

He might have seemed a bit rough in his treatment of Joel before, but I now see that Donny actually has a sensitive side.

And it’s clear he had high hopes for Joel.

“That’s unfortunate. But Joel seemed to be pretty constrained in the Royal Knight Order. I think it’s good for him to be free and relaxed here.”

“I get that. Sheila’s here too, and fighting your familiars will naturally make him stronger. Still… I really wanted to be the one to train Joel. I even convinced his parents and brought him to the Order with the goal of making him a captain.”

Donny looked like a dark cloud was hanging over him—it wouldn’t have been surprising if sound effects like doom and gloom had been playing.
Now that I know he even persuaded Joel’s parents to enroll him, I understand why he’s taking it so hard.

Joel’s only 13, after all.

“I can’t speak for his parents, but… I believe Joel will grow more if he’s allowed to experience more of the world than just staying in the Royal Knight Order. Most importantly, it’s his own will that matters most.”

“I know that. That’s why I’m not forcing him to come back, right?”

“I appreciate that. Because if you were forcing him, I’d have to ban you from coming here. Besides, just because he quit the Order doesn’t mean he can’t become a captain in the future. Life is long, you know.”

“You’re right… Thanks for the pep talk.”

“Don’t mention it. You can still mentor him here if he’s willing to listen.”

“True. I’ll change my approach and try again from a different angle.”

After gently tapping me on the head, Donny returned to work.

He might come off blunt and gruff to anyone who isn’t Velvet, but Donny really is a good person at heart.

I didn’t get to see it myself because I was cooking, but apparently he even beat Ren-san in an exhibition match—the same Ren who won the mock battle tournament. Donny is clearly incredibly skilled.

With someone like that looking out for him, I’m sure Joel will grow into a fine young man.

After watching Donny refocus on his work, I decided it was a good time to go talk to Joel.
I also wanted to ask him more about Lua, so the timing was perfect.

“Joel-kun, can I have a moment of your time?”

“Ah, Satou-san! You want to talk to me? …If it’s about going back to the Royal Knight Order, I’m not changing my mind, okay?”

“I heard from Donny-san already, but I have no intention of convincing you to go back. I also know you’re planning to become an adventurer with Brittany-san and Lua-san.”

“Oh, really? Umm, then what did you want to talk about?”

“I just wanted to ask you to be a little kinder to Donny-san. He’s not a bad person, even if he doesn’t show it, and he promised not to pressure you anymore. So I hope you can take a small step toward him too.”

Joel made a reluctant face but gave a small nod.

Since he quit the Order rather abruptly, I’m sure he doesn’t feel like getting too involved again, but cutting ties entirely wouldn’t benefit either of them.

“Thanks for being open to it. On a completely different note—when’s your first adventure with Lua-san going to be?”

“Oh! We’re planning to go next week! We’ve already chosen the destination, too. Apparently, Rua-san saw some mysterious white smoke near the border when she got lost. So Brittany-san and I decided to go investigate and find out what it was!”

From his earlier serious expression, Joel’s face lit up into a smile befitting his age.

Rather than doing boring guild requests, it sounded like a real adventure, and he seemed genuinely excited.

“That sounds great. It sounds really interesting—and now I’m curious about that white smoke too.”

“Right!? If we find out anything, I’ll tell you all about it, Satou-san!”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that. But just remember, Lua-san said there were strong monsters in that area, so make sure to value your life first and stay safe.”

“Got it! I’ll do my best to make ‘not dying’ my top priority!”

I laughed as Joel gave me a crisp salute, then left him to his preparations.

Donny-san is a little pitiful in all this, but I think things are going quite well overall.